Browsing: Morocco

The World Bank approved $48 million loan to Morocco to help the country in dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as it relaxes restrictions in a bid to reopen its economy. 

The loan is part of World Bank’s ongoing programme approved in 2015 for Results project which aims at supporting primary health care services. 

The international financial institution said that through project restructuring, a total of $13.01 million is in undisbursed funds under the programme. The bank further said that from the WBG Fast Track Covid-19 Facility, an additional of $35 million will support Morocco’s COVID-19 health sector response by strengthening detection, prevention, case management and surveillance. 

According to World Bank Maghreb country director, Jesko Hentschel, Morroco’s government had already taken significant measures to contain the outbreak of the pandemic and lessen the impact on vulnerable households and sectors. 

Hentschel also said that the country …

The Moroccan planning agency revealed on Wednesday that, the country’s unemployment rate slipped to 9.2 per cent in 2019 from 9.5 per cent in 2018. This was attributed by the offset labor gains in town and cities, after heavy job losses within the rural areas, Reuters revealed.

Morocco which is now run under a new coalition-government, its economy was spotted by World Bank (in October 2019) to be slowing down below its potential constrained by a volatile, rain-fed, agricultural sector and slow growth in the tertiary sector.

According to World Bank, real GDP slowed to 2.7 per cent in 2019, while non-agricultural growth improved by 3.4 per cent (compared to 3 per cent in 2018), driven by the better performance of phosphates, chemicals, and textiles.

READ U.S.-Africa Business Summit 2020 to be hosted in Morocco

In addition, the government is currently working to develop a new model of economic development …

European Union (EU) financial aid for Morocco for the year 2014 to 2018, provided limited added value and ability to support reforms in the country, according to a new report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

The auditors said that the European Commission addressed the needs identified in national and EU strategies, but it spread the funding across too many areas, which may have weakened its impact.

The auditors also found the Commission’s management of budget support programmes for Morocco being affected by weaknesses in the way they were designed, implemented and monitored and also in the assessment of results.

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The European Union is Morocco’s biggest donor of development aid. For the period between 2014-2020, the Commission programmed €1.4 billion of aid, mainly for the three priority sectors the rule of law, social services and sustainable growth.

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The next edition of the United States-Africa Business Summit (U.S- Africa) will be held in June 2020 in Marrakech, Morocco, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) announced on Monday.

The CCA Board of Directors chose the Kingdom as the host of the 2020 Summit after a strategic process. According to the statement, Morocco having joined the African Union and signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, demonstrated its commitment to promote economic development in Africa, making it an ideal destination for the 2020 Summit.

Princess Lalla Joumala, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States, urged businesses to take advantage of the unique opportunities that will be presented at the Summit. It will be the first time CCA will organize the summit in North Africa.

“As the gateway to Africa, Morocco is committed to increasing business and investment on the continent and is pleased to partner …

An Austrian company Technik-Plus has developed a cutting-edge Carbon Farming-technology in their Impuls-Centre in Mureck, Southern Austria,  for sustainable and gently mechanized farming with a strong commitment to conservation and environmental sustainability and a special focus on African agriculture.

The company has been making inroads in several countries in Africa with significant sales in South Africa, Uganda, Gambia and Morocco. They are in talks with farmer’s organizations in Kenya and Nigeria with a targeted niche in semi-arid agriculture in many African nations.

The Austrian company says it has sales contacts in all 55 African countries and is looking at possibly developing local license assembly in specific countries for their tractors, which is expected to create local jobs and makes it a 50% African product.

Beside their pneumatic air seeders, the company also construct “exhaust-farming” systems, which means, they blow the carbon emissions of the tractor’s exhaust pipe back into the …